TRACK TIME

THIS SEASON, THE BEST OF AUTO-INSPIRED AND RACING WATCHES HIT THE OPEN ROAD WITH SPEED AND STYLE.

This season, the best of auto-inspired and racing watches hit the open road with speed and style.

Automobile enthusiasts’ tight bond with timepieces dates to the earliest days of motor sports. Drivers would strap big, bulky pocket watches to their wrists to measure timing and speed, either while maneuvering new race tracks or hitting a straightaway on a dusty back road. But as car and timepiece technologies both advanced, drivers began looking to watchmakers for pieces that met their specific needs. Watch brands not only responded to this call but drew from it, with auto-design inspiration informing some of history’s most highly engineered and iconic pieces. (In many instances, watchmakers teamed up with specific automakers, racing teams, or races to create ticking tributes to them.) Some of the world’s most illustrious brands have revisited this racing tradition for summer, debuting exceptional timepieces that double as copilots for when the need for speed strikes. For more watch features and expanded coverage go to bostoncommon-magazine.com/ watches-and-jewelry

AS TECHNOLOGIES ADVANCED, DRIVERS BEGAN LOOKING TO WATCHMAKERS FOR PIECES THAT MET THEIR NEEDS.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: With a history of being inspired by auto racing Girard Perregaux’s Competizione Circuito Chronograph ($13,200) takes its name from the Italian words for “competition” and “track circuit” and has the look of a high-end automobile....